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When humans play robots in Ping-Pong, we all win

By Matt Walks, Digital First Media

Updated:
03/11/2014 09:46:27 PM EDT

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The war between man and machine has officially reached the sports arena.

On Tuesday, KUKA robotics released a YouTube video of a table tennis match between former world No. 1 Timo Boll and KUKA's own ping-pong playing robot, the KUKA KR Agilus, billed as the fastest robot on earth.

We won't spoil the end by telling you who wins, but Boll, Germany's top-ranked player, makes table tennis look really heroic.

Regardless of whether the whole video is a public relations stunt, it's incredible to see a robot move with this kind of speed and agility. It's also, in some ways, a little scary. When the robot overlords finally make humanity their slaves, remember this moment.